Mao Zedong and China: Origins and Rise to Power

1. Mao Zedong and China: Origins and Rise to Power • IB History: Authoritarian and Single-Party States

2. About the Unit • Authoritarian/Single-Party State = A government controlled by a single political party and/or regimes that defend their political or economical control by keeping all of society passive. • Authoritarian/Single-Party States developed and operated throughout the 20th Century (1900-2000) and we will study three examples. • Hitler and Nazi Germany (Fascism) • Mao Zedong and China (Communism) • Stalin and the Soviet Union (Communism) • We will study these examples through four areas: • Origins (how did they begin) • Ideology and Nature (what beliefs did they promote) • Establishment (how did they get power) • Policies and their impact (what they did and the effects)

3. Origins and Rise to Power • Mao Zedong took advantage of China’s lack of unity, political instability, and domination by foreign powers to gain support from the people of China • In the early 1900’s China was not politically unified, was not politically stable, and parts of it was dominated by foreign powers that controlled rights and privileges to land. • China became a nation with a representative government in 1912, but the government (Nationalist) was ineffective and regional warlords continued to be powerful and operate independent of the government until 1928. • The Chinese Communist Party was established in 1921, but Mao and the party were not powerful. In fact they actually cooperated with the government (Nationalists) on occasion before they took power in China. • Mao and the Communist Party eventually established their own military (The Red Army), and established their presence in a region of China where they operated as a government and implemented policies, such as land reform. • Following World War II (also known as the Second Sino-Japanese War) in 1945 the Mao and the Communist fought a civil war against the Nationalist Government and won control of the country in 1949.

4. Mao Zedong Communist Leader Chiang Kai-Shek Nationalist Leader Logo of Chinese Communist Party Flag of the Republic of China (Nationalist)

5. China and Mao: Ideology and Nature • Mao’s communist ideology was shaped by his families experience and the teachings of Yang Changji, Li Dazhao, and Karl Marx, but when put into practice they were destructive instead of accomplishing their intended goals • Mao’s ideology was shaped by his upbringing as a peasant and the scholars Yang Changji and Li Dazhao who introduced him to ideas about strong leadership and communism. • Mao joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1921, but he was not the leader or spokesperson because his ideas differed from others in the party. • Mao’s ideology became more defined as he became more involved in teh Chinese Communist Party: • Marxist Beliefs: Revolution lead by lower class people • Chinese Beliefs: Importance of Peasants, 2-Stage Revolution, Mass mobilization and volunteering, continuous revolution, self-criticism/correction, ruthless determination, Mao’s thought center of all actions • Once Mao was in power his policies were implemented and they were destructive rather than strengthening China as a whole and the lives of the Chinese people individually.

6. Karl Marx Yang Changji Li Dazhao Considered one of the origins of communist ideology Teacher of Mao Zedong, promoted democracy and strong leadership. Teacher of Mao Zedong and founder of the Communist Party of China

7. Summary • Mao Zedong took advantage of China’s lack of unity, political instability, and domination by foreign powers to gain support from the people of China • Mao’s communist ideology was shaped by his families experience and the teachings of Yang Changji, Li Dazhao, and Karl Marx, but when put into practice they were destructive instead of accomplishing their intended goals